The Pentagon is building robotic wingmen

Washington - A Pentagon effort to incubate businesses in
Silicon Valley may be bearing some of its first fruit, as a San Diego company
rolls out a set of new drones it says could accompany human-piloted fighters
into combat.

On Tuesday, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
officially announced two new classes of drones designed to function as robotic
wingmen for fighter pilots.

Development of the UTAP-22 Mako has been funded by the
Defense Department's Silicon Valley laboratory, dubbed DIUx. Separately, the
company showed off a larger, 30-foot-long drone backed by the Air Force called
the XQ-222 Valkyrie, with a range of more than 3,000 nautical miles.

Kratos is promoting the pilotless planes at the Paris
Airshow next week in preparation for a new round of testing. Aviation experts
say the supersonic speed and altitude capacities published by Kratos suggest
the drones could fly in tandem with an F-16 or F-35 fighter

The company says it has already successfully flown the
drones alongside manned aircraft and it will soon embark on an advanced round
of testing above California's Mohave desert employing a more sophisticated
array of sensing technology to determine just how autonomous the drones can be.

In those tests, a pilot in an accompanying airplane is
preparing to monitor the drones from a small Android tablet. For most of the
flight, the drone will attempt to maneuver without the help of a human, relying
on artificial intelligence technology and sensors to mimic the nearby plane's
movements.

That test scheduled for July is to be followed by a
"demonstrated military exercise" sometime in the second half of this
year, the company said.

"In order to exploit the maneuverability of one of
these aircraft you need to have the sensing ability of when to exploit
it," said Dave Deptula, a former Air Force General who now serves as dean
of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Power Studies, an Arlington think tank.

The effort comes as the military explores what role robotics
might play in the wars of the future; some argue that unmanned systems are more
likely to accompany - but not replace - manned systems like the F-35 Joint
Strike fighter. The Navy is exploring similar options in using autonomous
submarines that can scout the ocean floor and seek out mines.

The use of robotic systems to augment manned aircraft could
theoretically make air combat safer if, for example, autonomous aircraft can be
sent ahead to absorb an enemy's attacks first. The aircraft are also less
expensive to deploy than manned aircraft; the reusable drones cost between $2
million and $3 million.The Mako represents a step forward from the unmanned
Predator and Reaper drones now largely used for aerial surveillance and for
targeted attacks in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Officials at DIUx did not respond to requests for comment on
the new Kratos drones. Former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter helped launch the
Silicon Valley outpost in 2015, tasking the Defense Innovation Unit
Experimental with finding and funding innovative technologies outside greater
Washington. The effort had its early stumbles: Carter re-shuffled its
leadership team and members of Congress took steps to limited the agency's
funding, saying it lacked direction.

Kratos' $12.6 million contract with DIUx to explore the
autonomous use of high-speed drones is tiny compared to larger military
hardware development contracts, which can reach into the billions of dollars.
Still, observers see the successful testing of an autonomous drone as step
forward for the agency.

"This is an example of where DIUx went out and find
innovative ideas and are funding them, and it's an excellent way to reinforce
companies that are not already fully established," said Deptula, the
retired Air Force general.